Reservoir and liquid supply system for steam irons



July 18, 1950 G. KASSAB 2,515,776

RESERVOIR AND LIQUID SUPPLY SYSTEM FOR STEAM IRONS Filed April 4, 1946 IN VEN TOR.

A TTOEA/EY,

Patented July 18, 1950 RESERVOIR AND LIQUID SUPPLY SYSTEM FOR STEAM IRONS GeorgeKassab, Wallingfrd,'Pa., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Application April 4, 1946, Serial No. 659,557

6 Claims. 1

My invention relates to a steam iron of thetype which includes a water reservoir, a steamgenerating chamber and a valve for controlling the flow of Water from said reservoir to said steam generator, where the water is flashed intosteam which is discharged onto the fabric being ironed. This type of iron is exemplified by-such prior'Patents as N o. '2;322,593, issuedto F; E. Finlayson on June 22, 194-3, and No. 2387,281 issued to E; 'O. Morton on October 23', 1945.

One object of the invention to produce an improved iron of the type set forth.

When an iron of the type described is in use, the valve controlling the fiow of water from the reservoir is adjusted 'to an open position which will deliver more or less water to the steam-generating chamber according to the degree of heat at which the iron is maintained, which, in turn,

is varied according to the type of fabric being ironed. For example, in ironing linen, the iron is maintained at a higher temperature and more water is used than when some synthetic fabric such as rayon is being ironed;

During any ironing operation, there are frequent interruptions, as when the piece Toeing' ironed is folded, when a finished piece is put-away and a new piece to be ironed is spread on theironing board, or when the operator is momen-- tarily called away. During these short interruptions the electrical energy is not shut off and, in

order to guard against scorching, the iron is upended or stood on a rest provided at its rear end. In this position, the plane of thesoleplate is substantially normal to the plane of the ironing board andthe nose of the iron iseleva-ted. It

is undesirable to permit continued generation of" because continued generation of-steam, when the iron is upended, rapidly depletes the supply of water in the reservoir, the capacity of which is limited to begin with. This necessitates morefrequent refilling of the reservoir and thus detracts from the merits of the iron. .Aniron in which the valvemust be closed prior to each interruption, and in which the valve must'be reopened and reset upon resumption of the ironingoperation, is so impractical as to be altogether uselessas a steam iron.

In order to overcome this difficulty, it has been proposed to place the valve at, or near, the nose of the iron andto provide means for preventing the reservoir from being filled to capacity so that, when the iron is upended, the water level in thereseryoir will be below the valve orifice When the limited capacity of the reservoir isremembered; it will be seen that any reduction in its capacity will seriously handicap the utility of the iron.

It is, therefore, a further object of the invention to devise an improved iron construction whereby the reservoir may be filled to its full capacity and whereby, when the iron is upended, no water will fiow from the reservoir to the steamgenerator, thus conserving the limited supply of water which it is possible to put in the reservoir so as to-prolong the period of use of the iron before it is again necessary to refill the reservoir.

Steam irons, regardless of their other specific characteristics, are also handicapped in that the valved orifice through which water is delivered tothe-steamgenerator is exposed to direct, radiant or conductivehea-t from the soleplate so that saltsprecipitate from water which evaporates in and around the orifice and, in more or less time, the orifice is partly or wholly clogged. This necessitates servicing by'expert mechanics with attendant expense and inconvenience.

It is, therefore, a still further object of the in-- vention to provide an improved structure in which the valved orifice is so located as to be adequately shielded from the heat of the soleplate, thereby greatly retarding the deposit of precipitates on the valve orifice and reducing the frequency of servicing on this account.

These and other objects are attained by my invention as set forth in the following specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. ,1 is aview, partly in vertical section and partly in elevation, of a flash-type steam iron embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary enlargement of the valved orifice and its adjuncts.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary section on line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4' is a View similar to' Fig. 3, showing a slight modification.

Fig. 5 is a, view on line 5-5 of Fig. 1.

In Fig. 1, there is shown an iron including a conventional soleplate Ill, a water reservoir H, and a. handle 12. The reservoir may have a narly mounted, encloses a stem is for adjusting needle valve 26 which reciprocates in a tapered bore formed in a bushing 21. The bush-- ing 2i is provided with a bottom orifice 22 and a communicating lateral bore 23 which forms a continuation of a tube 24. The tubeZLi may be made as a separate member and secured to the bottom of the tank, as shown in Fig. 3, or it may be provided. by making a groove 26 in the bottom or" the reservoir and welding a strip 21 to close the top of the groove, as shown in Fig. 4. In either structure, the end of the tube adjacent the nose end of the reservoir open.

The orifice 22 empties into one an of an en larged pipe '29, the otherendof which emptiesinto a steam-generating recess or chamber formed in the soleplate ill. The steam generator 3?] may have one or more openings 3i leading directly to the under side of thesoleplate 'or it may be connected by a passage 33 to a distributing chamber 36, fro n w l 1 ich openings 34 lead to the under side of thesoleplate. The manner in which steam is conducted from the chamber 3t to the cloth beingironedis optional as 'it' forms no part of the presentinve ntion I In order to equalize the pressure, a vent pipe 37 leads from the chamber 3t to a dome 38 which communicates withthe water reservoir. At this point, attention is called to the fact that, when the iron shown in E ig, l is upended so asto rest on its heel, the opening 3 9 inthe upperend of the vent pipe 3} will be -abovethe level of water in the nose or upper end of the reservoir and the adjacent portion of the dome 38, even though the reservoir is filled to its full capacity.

is shown by the broken line A inFig. 1. IEX Cl B Pt for this requirement, the structure and arrange ment of the vent pipe 31 and dome '38 may be altered at will.

Between the t I reservoir is a thick layer of insulating material B which efiectively shields the reservoir, and particularly the orifice 22, and a major portion of the pipe 29 from'th'e near 6f the sole'plate. The chambers it, 313' and'tli and the passage 33 may be covered by the irisulating material B or they may have a separate cover, if so desired.

' The soleplate heated by means oi a heating element 48, the nature andsha'pe ofwhich may be conventional "except that, accordingto this invention, the terminals 46 of the heating element are segregated in a compartment 4 which is made as small 'as possible'soas to take up as little as possible of the volumetric'capacity of the reservoir. Again, except for this requirement, the terminals 46 may be disposed or arranged in any convenientmanner.

' Operation The reservoir is filled to complete capacity through a suitable fill opening which i normally closed by a plug C. The fill opening and the plug C may be conventional as long as they are so located and arranged as to permit filling of the tank to its full capacity.

The thermostat is then adjusted to maintain the soleplate at the desired temperature value,

soleplate and the tanner the and when the iron is to be used as a steam iron, the valve is adjusted to permit the flow of the desired amount or water from the reservoir to the steam generator su. If desired, the thermostat-adjusting stem and the water valve can be connected in tandem ior concomitant adjustment in any esired manner such, for example, as the manner illustrated in Patent No. 2,342,653, issued to rt. h. mowards on February 29, 1944.

when the iron is in its ironing position, with the soleplate thereof resting on the ironing board,

water will enter the tube 24 through its open nose end it and will flow out through the inner end of the bore and the orifice 22 to the pipe 255, from the open end D of which the water will drop into the steam generator 3K] to be flashed into steam.

. It will be noted that a hole is cut through the insulation, in registration with the opening I), so as to permit passage 01' water i'roni the pipe 2%! to the stea ngenerator whne at the s arne time shielding all but the opening D of the pipe from the heat of the soleplate'. L Due to this heavy insulation and because thetoriiioe "22 is out of registrationwith steam-geheratingchamber, the orifice is kept relativelycb ol' water evaporad the orifice is eliminated or 111011. s, an efe greatly reduced. 1. vests or greatly retards sedimentation and, thereiore, retards the clogging of the orifice. fo'fi'the pipe 29, itw'ill 'be'noted that, due to itslarg diahieter', and due to the fact that it is ins atid' from heat, it will take a very long timeb'eiore" 'it will becloggd up by sedimentation. rteispeumg D'fis'al'so so big that it will take 'a very long time tomes. Furthermore, the pipe is may be readily cleaned "by merely detaching the're'servo'ir from the soleplate or by fo ming the-steam generator in a plug which is threadd illtb aiiopemng i'li'th'e SIDED 12116125 shown, for trainee, in the Morton atent'abov'e mentioned. The constant assag'e'dr relatively cold watr'downth'etiibe reserves to preheat the water prior to its arrival at the steam generator V mange serves to lieepthe Epipe itself, and hence the cnfiee'22;" e1at1ve1 "cool; as far as I am aware, this feature is'b'rb'adly new in that in all prior'stea'm iron constructions, the equivalent of my, orifice??? was "always in direct registration with the steam generator, "so that'I 'am the first to place the valve orifice andthe steamfgenerator out of registration to -connect the orifice ZZand the steam g elielal'tol 3 the pipe 29 O'r iBS equivalent.

its heel rest t, in; the

I H t V a well khownfmanner, the nose end 4t oi the tu i l'i'w'ill be higher than the level of the water in the reservoih 'a nd the open-r ing til jin the upper enac the ventpip's wm" be higher than the level of thewatr in'the dome 38, even though the reservoir is filled to its com-j tube 24 from being evaporated and wasted while the iron isupended, I havem'ade the tube 29 of a much greater diameter than the tube" 24', so that all the'fwatercontained'in'thetube 24 at'the mo-- ment the iron is upended will not quite'fill' the portionjofthe'tubeit between the orifice ZZ'and" the'fopen'ing D. .In'otherwfords, when the iron is upendedand the 'tube'24 and'pipe 29 are substan'-' bid-IBQQVB tially vertically disposed, the 5 pipe 29 -"serves {as "-a temporary storage reservbir 'for thewater drained from the tube fll. This arrangement-(ct) prevents excessive heatingof'the pipe 29 whilethe iron-is upended, which would happen if the pipe "29 were empty; (6) 'preheatsthe water stored'inthe pipe ra ;-ana (c) provides-a temporary over-supply'of water to the steam generator when ironing is resumed, "thus furnishing ample steam at the instant i or resumption-of the ironing operation and during the time it takes for a new supplyofw'ate'r to rea'ch'the-orifice'2'2.

I -From theforegoin g it will b'e seen thatthe reservoir may {be completely filled so as 'no't' to sacrifice-any 'oiitsdimited capacity; that the-'ironwill not steam while upendedeveh thohg'h'the valve 2fl i's left inits adjusted open po'sition; that the srrlallorifice which normally gets rapidly clogged by sedimentation is =adequately-shielded -from heat by the insulation '13, "by the fact' thatit doe's riot register with the steam generator so as to eliminate or reduceprecipitation of sediment at and around the orifice; that the pipe 291s so big and its opening'D is so large that it will take a very long time before-either will be clogged up; that -the pipe"29,"except io'r its'l'arge opening D, is shielded from the 'heat of the soleplate and that, 'by provision of the'tube "24, with its open end at'the nose-orthe'iron and-with the provision of the tube as to receive an'd preh'eat'the water which runs "down'i'rom-the tube 24 when the iron is upendedl amnot limited to placing the 's'team generator andthe 'watervalv'e at the nose of the irona's in theliist'n'er patent, No. 2,313,382, of March 9,1943. 'Nor do I have'to sacrifice twenty percent, more or'l'ess, of the limited capacity of the reservoir as is necessary "when the Kistner structure is employed. Onthe contrary, I can, and prefer to, locate thesteam generator and the water valvesubstantially in the center section of the-iron, approximately as shown; in this specific embodiment shown the vertical central axis of the generator 'is slightly forward of the exact center of'the soleplate, while' the valve is located to the rear of the generator more specifically, the valve is spaced back from the ver forward nose end of the soleplate a'distance substantially equal to three-fifths of the length of the soleplate. ;A-lso, in-this specific sample, the valve is spaced back from the nose of the reservoir a distance substantially equalto one-half the length of" the soleplate.

With respect to the tube29, I want to point out that it may be'used iorretarding clogging of the orifice 22; even though the tube 24 is omitted; and the Water valve must be closed when ironing is interrupted, or when the arrangement of the Kistner patent is adopted. Broadly stated, this feature of the invention resides in placing the orificeout or registration with the steam-generating chamber and conductin water from the orifice to the steam-generating chamber through an insulated pipe as shown.

As above stated, the tube 24 can be made as shown in Fig. 3 or preferably as shown in Fig. 4, which construction is believed to be less expensive and in which the depressed groove 26, being below the top surface of the bottom of the tank, will more completely drain the water from the reservo1r.

It will be noted that, even when the reservoir is filled to its complete capacity, and before the iron is used at all, the nose end 40 of the tube 24 will still be above the level of the water in the reservoir as soon as the iron is upended. This is due to the fact that'a few drops of water will enter' the -po'rtion of the dome '38 below the line A'A when the iron 'is resting on its heel R, in analm'ost vertical po'sition. Also, while the dome 38 h'as'be'en s'hown'in the handle, itcan be otherwise arranged, and it need not beas wide as shown. In practice, the dome 38 is preferably only large enough to permit insertion thereinto of the endof the'vent 31. In the drawings, the dome 3'8 has been greatly enlarged for clarity of illustration.

While thepip'e 29 ismade'l'a'rge enough so as tohave-avolumetric-capacity equal to the volume'tric capacity of the longer butnarrower tube 2"4jit pointed out th'atthis is not necessary-for satisfactory operation because, when the iron'is up'tilted, water'in the tube 24 will stop'fiowing into thetube 29 as soon as the water level in both'tubesis'the same. In other words, not all or the'water in the tube 24 is drained into the tube 29, so 'thatthe amount of water which is thus stored -in the pipe 29 and which is rapidly discharged 'into the steam generator when the ironing is resumed will not be excessive but will be *enough-to'keep'the pipe 29, and hence the orifice 22, relatively cool, and it will be enough alsot'o provide an instantaneous and somewhat larger -'steam volume at the resumption of the ironing operation, sothat there will be no loss of tirnewhil'ewaitingfor water from the distal side oithe orific'e to reach the steam generator.

l. A steam iron including a body having a'nose, a s'oleplate'and a heel, and adapted to assume an ironing-position in which said iron rests on said soleplate-and an upended position in which said iron rests on its heel, said iron further including a steam-generator carried by said soleplate, means for heating said soleplate and said generato'rfareservoir for storing water to be converted into steam in said generator provided with a nose endatth'e nose or said body, an orifice for discharging-water from said reservoir to said generator, an adjustable valve operatively associated with said orifice for'regulating the flow of water therethrough, said orifice being spaced from the nose portion of the reservoir a distance substantially equal'to one-half the length of the soleplate, there being an opening through which "Water rriaybe'introduced into the reservoir, said opening and said reservoir being so constructed "and related that said reservoir may be filled to substantially its complete capacity, and a closed conduit extending along the bottom of said reservoir from said orifice to the vicinity of the extreme nose of said reservoir and having the end thereof near said nose of said reservoir open, whereby, when said iron is in its ironing position, the water inthe reservoir will enter the open end of and will-flow through said conduit to said orifice, and whereby'whensaid iron is upended, the open end of said conduit will be above the level of the water in said reservoir even when the latter is filled substantially to its complete capacity,

2. The structure recited in claim 1 in which said orifice and said generator are out of vertical alignment, together with a second conduit extending along the underside of said reservoir and having one end thereof disposed below said orifice for receiving water discharged therethrcugh, the other end of said second conduit being open and registering with said steam generator for delivering said water thereto, and heat-insulating means shielding said orifice and said second conduit from the heat of the soleplate.

A- steam iron including a body havin a: nose, a soleplate anda heel, and. adapted to assume an ironing position .in which said iron ,rests on; said soleplate and .anupended-position in ,which said iron restson its heel, saidv iron further including a steam.-generator carried by said soleplate, meansrfor heatingsaid soleplate and said generator, a reservoir for storing water to be converted into steam in said generatorprovided with anose end at. the. noseof said body, an orificefordischarging water from said reservoir to said generator, an adjustable valve operatively associated with said orifice for regulating the flow of water therethrough, said orifice being spaced from the nose portion of the reservoir a distance substantially equal to at least one-thirdthe length of the soleplate, there being an. opening throughwhich watermayobe introduced into the reservoir, said opening and said reservoir being soconstructed and related that said reservoir maybe filled to substantially its complete capacity,.-and a closed conduit extending along the bottom of said reservoirrirom said orifice tothe vicinity of the extreme nose of said reservoir and having theend thereof near said nose of said reservoir open, whereby, when said iron is in its ironing position, the water in the reservoir will enter the open end of and will flow through said conduit to said orifice, and whereby when said iron is upended, the open end of said conduit will be above the level of the water in said reservoir evenwhen the latter is filled substantially to its complete capacity.

4. A steam iron comprising a body having a nose end and a heel end, said body also having a soleplate and anlironing position in which the iron rests on the soleplate and a non-ironing position in ,which the iron rests on its heel, a steam generator carried by said so-leplate, means for heating said steam generator, a water reservoir carried by said soleplate provided with a nose end at the nose end of said body, a valve-controlled duct for discharging regulated quantities of water fromsaid reservoir to be flashed into steam in said generator, said valve-controlled duct being spaced rearwardly from the nose portion of the reservoir andirom said steam generator, a passage extending along the bottom of the reservoir from said duct to the nose portion of the reservoir, said'passage having an open end so arranged within said reservoir as to be submerged Within the water of the reservoir only when the iron is in said ironing position, and a second duct extending along the underside of said reservoir from said duct toward the nose of the iron to discharge into said generator.

5. A steam iron comprising a body havingra nose end and a heel end, said body also having a soleplate and an ironing position in which the iron rests on the soleplate and a non-ironing position in which the iron rests on its heel, a steam generator .carried by, said, soleplate, means for heating said steam; generator, a water reservoir carriedqbysaid soleplate ,provided with a nose end-,at the nose end of said body, a valve-controlled 'duct for discharging regulated quantities of ;,water from said reservoir to be flashed into steamin said. generator, said valve-controlled duct being spaced rearwardly from the nose portionof the reservoir, and from said steam generator, aconduit extending along the bottom of the reservoirfrom said duct tothe nose portion of the reservoir, said conduit having an open end soarranged within said reservoir as to be submerged within the water of the reservoir only when the. ironis in said ironing position, and a secondconduit extending along the under side of ;said reservoirv from said duct toward the nose of theiron, said second conduit having a volumetricrcapacity .at least equal to the volumetric capacity of said first mentioned conduit, whereby when said ironis upended and said conduits are both in av substantially vertical position, thewater whichdrains from said first-mentioned conduit is received and stored in said second conduit pending return of the iron to its ironing position. 6.;A steam iron includinga soleplate, a steam generator carried thereby, means for heating said soleplateand said generator, a water reservoir abovesaid solepl-ate, a valve-controlled orifice. for discharging regulatedrquantities of water from said reservoir, said orifice being out of vertical registration with said generator, a structure defining anyenlarged passage from said orifice extendingalong the underside of said reservoir and having one end thereof connected to, said orifice and vthe, otherv end thereof open and registering with said generator for delivering Water discharged through said orifice to, saidgenerator, and ,means, for shielding said orifice and said passageirom, the heat of said soleplate.

GEORGE. KASSAB.

7 REFERENCES CITED Theiollowing. references/are of record inethe 

